Ukraine’s military yesterday warned the public of more indiscriminate Russian shelling from bogged-down Russian troops, and US President Joe Biden issued his strongest warning yet that Russia is considering using chemical weapons.
Nearly four weeks into their invasion, Russian troops have failed to capture any major Ukrainian city and have been halted on nearly all fronts, but are hammering residential districts with artillery, missiles and airstrikes.
Russian forces were expected to continue to attack critical infrastructure with “high-precision weapons and indiscriminate munitions,” the Ukrainian military said.
Photo: AFP
Citing Russian statements that Ukraine might possess chemical or biological weapons, Biden said that those accusations are not merely false, but a sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be planning to use such weapons himself.
“Now he’s talking about new false flags he’s setting up, including asserting that we in America have biological as well as chemical weapons in Europe, simply not true,” Biden told a business event on Monday. “They are also suggesting that Ukraine has biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine. That’s a clear sign he’s considering using both of those.”
Ukraine said it retook a strategically important suburb of Kyiv early yesterday, as Russian forces squeezed other areas near the capital and their attack on the embattled southern port of Mariupol raged unabated.
Russian forces also pressed their siege of Mariupol after the southern port city’s defenders refused demands to surrender, with fleeing civilians describing relentless bombardments and corpses lying in the streets.
However, the Kremlin’s ground offensive in other parts of the country advanced slowly or not at all, knocked back by lethal hit-and-run attacks by the Ukrainians.
Early yesterday, Ukrainian troops also forced Russian forces out of the Kyiv suburb of Makariv after a fierce battle, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said.
The regained territory allowed Ukrainian forces to retake control of a key highway and block Russian troops from surrounding Kyiv from the northwest.
Still, the ministry said that Russian forces were able to partially take other northwest suburbs, Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, some of which had been under attack almost since the initial invasion.
Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Pope Francis to mediate in the conflict to help alleviate the human suffering.
Zelenskiy said that he talked with the pope by telephone and that he “told His Holiness about the difficult humanitarian situation and the blocking of rescue corridors by Russian troops.”
“The mediating role of the Holy See in ending human suffering would be appreciated,” Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter following the call.
Pope Francis has urged an end to the conflict more than once.
Additional reporting by AP and AFP
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